The Spirit Of Bob and Florence

This past summer, we had the sad occasion to attend the estate sale for Sherri's Uncle Bob and Aunt Florence. I always find estate sales an odd mixture of joy (you get to see relatives you may not have seen for a while) and sad (watching the pride of a person's hobbies and interests sold off).

This one was special in so many ways:
In the age of e-bay, watching a skilled auctioneer work his craft was a treat in and of itself.

So many of the people at the auction knew Bob and Florence, and we knew much of the good stuff was going to people who would truly appreciate it.

And what I am pretty sure was the last mass gathering of Bob and Florence's children and grandchildren in Des Moines. I'm sure they will still gather, but I doubt that they will feel drawn to that city as a group ever again.

But before I get too maudlin, let me hit on what to me is the Spirit Of Bob and Florence: the basement of that house. Wow. How can I even describe it? Old beer ads, player piano, several old jukeboxes, shelf after shelf (antiques themselves) filled with holiday dishes, glassware, animated holiday gizmos, cute little "Don't squat with your spurs on" signs, and a John Wayne clock that swayed it's hips as a pendulum. Had to be seen to be believed- Sherri tells me there was once a pool table, but I don't believe it- there wasn't room for a pool cue in that place it was so packed. I still remember the first time Sherri took me down to see them- she was so proud to show her "serious boyfriend" off to her closest Aunt and Uncle, and vice versa. She tried to prep me, but when I went into that basement for the first time, I was speechless! And totally hooked. I wanted to live there. In that basement.

So when the auction came up, and with my recent foray into the world of home brewing and a rec room in our house with no personality but lots of potential- the mission was clear: We needed to bring the Spirit Of Bob and Florence to our house. And thanks to a cooperative wife and a pretty aggressive budget: I think we have. It's a pale imitation of what I saw all those years in the Fox basement, but I think the essence is there: have fun, enjoy family and friends, and don't be afraid to get just plain silly.

Tell me what you think:

Inauration Celebration

Different topic today- the wife and I went to DC last week to witness the inauguration of President Obama.

Biggest. Crowd. Ever.

I'll leave the recap to the pundits, but here's what I saw:

Yes, we made it to the Mall, and yes it was crowded- but check out he guy on the lower right in the Obama stocking cap. That was the prevailing mood- and it was infectious. People were not pleased at the abysmal crowd control from the DC police- but the mood was too upbeat to wreck.

It was a good day.

Lots of of Posts

So if you're starting here- DON'T!

I posted a bunch tonight, so go to this post and work your way up.

Seriously- why are you still here? GET GOING!

OK- fine. One picture to tide you over, but then you really need to leave.


There- now scram!

Bonus Art Post

Here's a shot of the Art we got for the Big Blank Wall.


More paintings by the artist can be seen at France Extraordinaire.

Nice woman over in Crocus Hill- she sells paintings out of her house as a sideline- Sherri spotted these hanging in The Barbary Fig on Grand Ave with price tags on them, and decided that these would be perfect.

Here's why I'm a bad person- I realized that blue would be a good accent color in this room when I saw the blue painter's tape we used to mask off the trim, and realized it looked pretty good. So I suggested it to Sherri. And here we are- because 3M's marketing department was really good at their job.

Perspective

Let me start this post with a comment on perspective: in a project like this- it's easy to lose. You get caught up in the moment-to-moment drama, and forget to step back and look at the Big Picture. So before this post launches in to minutiae (which it will) I want to make the Big Picture perfectly clear: We Love Our New Kitchen. The layout is great- the look is really working for us, and the overall quality is right in the zone.

But (you knew this was coming) there are some nits to pick. To be fair, one is more than a nit- and I'll start with that.

The Island has the wrong sink. It just doesn't work. And it's not what we asked for. Plain and simple- the contractor screwed up. No other way to put it: we sent him the exact part number for the sink we wanted, and that's not what got installed. To make matters worse- it has physical incompatibilites with the faucet. To wit:


What some of you may notice (And I'm sure Blendergirl spotted this right off) is that the water is too close to the front of the sink. Any attempt to stick your hands, or a vegetable or anything else under that stream is a sure way to get wet shoes. And you notice how the top is granite? And how the faucet has already been drilled too? Yeah- that's a problem. The real bummer is that the sink we asked for is round, and while this sink is 10x12, and the one we wanted is 12" diameter- the current sink has a 14" diagonal. So the hole is too large. Problem.

What to do, what to do? Well, the yard has another slab from the same lot- but that's really a pain for everyone including us. And while we want the problem fixed, we aren't out to sink the contractor either. (ha ha)

Plus our designer has lobbied hard that the sink we wanted would still be too small for that faucet. Sherri didn't want to go bigger because she was concerned (obsessed?) with not losing counter space on the island. But after seeing everything in real life- she agreed that another couple or inches was just fine. So in the end, we found another rectangular sink that will fit the faucet better, be just big enough that we can re-cut the exisiting slab and still get plenty of workspace.

So some time next week or the week after, the island top will be removed, carted away, re-cut and re-installed. They are trying to do it in one day. I'm taking an awful risk- this had better work.

...And That's Pretty Much It

Here it is! The Long-Awaited Almost Done Kitchen!

I say almost done because there is still the trim, and an issue with the sink (more later) and... well, that's really it. Enjoy- we sure are.

Ta-Da!

Now We're Cooking With Gas!

I was such a nice boy before I got to the Big City. I was raised by my mother in Iowa to cook on nice smooth-top electric burners. Easy to clean, no open flames to singe your hair (it involves a bunsen burner in high school biology- another time), and only proper flat-bottomed cookware. Like nice boys should.

But then I left home, went to college and ended up in an apartment with a crazy landlady, a guy who collected guns living in the basement, and most shocking of all- a gas stove! I was nervous at first- what if the pilot light went out? What if I blew up the apartment- that deposit money was all I had! But after only melting one plastic bowl on the hot spot over the pilot light- I began to make peace with the stove. I soon learned to love the instant response- the total control that came from actually seeing how much heat I had on- and most of all, I reveled in my ability to use cast iron skillets! I even got hold of my great-grandmother's cast iron chicken pan! 80 years of seasoning were mine! All Mine!

Eventually we left the old apartment, and moved to our first house. But this house came with - A Full-Sized Gas Stove! Now I could feed my obsession like never before. Electronic ignition, so no more pilot lights. A full 30 inches of space- I could use more than one pan at a time! It was a heavenly addiction- and I reveled in it.

But eventually this house could not contain us. We had to move on. And our next house came with a terrible price- an electric cooktop. Installed by my parents during their tenure in the house, it was a return to the smoothtop range of my youth. And truth be told- it was a fine example of the form: responsive, efficient, and easy to clean. But I could never be satisfied. Having succumbed to the lure of the blue flame, I could not again be happy with the simple red ring as I once was. Ever did it torment me! Too slow to heat, too slow to cool. Always either too hot or not hot enough- the constant rise and fall of the elements within drove me to distraction. I longed to pull my beloved cast iron from it's hiding place- still retained as a promise to myself that this trek in the wilderness would some day end!

So, uh, yeah- we put in a new cooktop. It's gas, and works really well. Pretty too- although Sherri thinks it looks like a herd of giant spiders on the counter. Here's a picture:

Hello, Old Friend

So remember when the Oven Door had a bit of a rough patch, and went to pieces faster than Leroy Brown?


Well- He's Baaaack! And doesn't he look handsome? Now- We Bake!

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

an ACTUAL KITCHEN! Everywhere we turn!

These pictures are a bit old, but pretty much sum up the situation with one exception- the cooktop has been installed. More on that in another post.

For now- this is pretty much what it will look like from this point on.

Notice that we now have the cool pendant lights installed over the island. oooooooo.

There are a few things which require annotation:

Orange Post-Its: no, we are NOT considering painting the cabinets: those are notes for the contractor of issues we have noticed. Most are simple hinge adjustments or problems with the drawer handles. They should be cleared up soon.

Trim: the big missing thing is trim around the windows/baseboards and that sort of thing. Again- in process.

Island: we have a problem on the island. The small veg sink is NOT the one we ordered- it's much smaller, so the faucet does not direct the water stream to the correct place. This is a real problem, and will necessitate re-cutting of the sink opening. This should be on tap soon.

So at this point with the exception of the oven (doors are waiting on parts) we have a fully functional kitchen! We even managed to pull off an Indian dinner for our friends Dave and Phoebe on Saturday night. That was so cool.

More pictures as we go forward, but we should be done with dramatic changes at this point.

Maybe.

Jumpin' BackSplash

They have delivered and installed the granite backsplash! Things are happening now- the floor is done, the countertops are in, the backsplash is up, and we might even have a working kitchen by the weekend.

Supposedly we get plumbing and electrical today/tomorrow, and some finish trim. We are sooooo close!

Dain Bramage

Love the smell of varnish in the morning! And afternoon, and evening, and all night...

The floor has been sanded and coated- twice! No pictures yet since it's still drying, but I sure wish you could smell it... since that would mean it's at your house and I wouldn't smell it anymore. Wow- that stuff is ugly nasty and can't be good for a person. We had the crock-pot going yesterday and the house smelled like someone built an Italian restaurant on top of a toxic waste dump. So we ate out.

We actually had bedroom windows open last night (it got down to the 20's) to get rid of the smell, along with lots of scented candles and those odor-genie things. The multi-pronged approach seems to be helping, but I'll be glad when this part is over.

Wednesday is Backsplash Day! Huzzah!

Garfunkle

So you may have noticed we have a very large yellow wall with nothing going on. We certainly have.

In the interest of both using the space and stepping up our Suburban elite-wannabe mall cred, we have purchased actual original artwork- from France!

We spotted these paintings at Barbary Fig on Grand Ave, with "for sale" signs on them. We are going to add one more slightly larger piece, but these are the two we have for now. The local dealer is a woman who works out of her house, and she purchased these while in Provence from the artist. I'll try to get more info on the dude, and maybe a link- but for now this is what I have.

Dance! Dance! CounterRevolution!

Yes- the Counter has arrived! And it's really really nice. For those keeping notes, the pattern is Angola Blue. Enjoy the view- we sure are.

Note: the thing on the island is a colander. Long story for another day. And the orange post-its are on locations where for whatever reason the hardware is not installed- some is missing (order screwup) and others were damaged or mis-drilled during installation.